Cordray's Ohio profile shrinks

When Richard Cordray got to Washington in January 2011, his stint in the Obama administration was expected to be a steppingstone to his next political gig — perhaps in the U.S. Senate or the governor’s mansion in Ohio.

Three-and-a-half years later, Cordray seems to have all but disappeared from Ohio’s political map.

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In the space of a few years, Cordray has gone from a fast-rising Ohio politician to someone with all the makings of an administration lifer, dug in at a divisive consumer agency that’s still finding its footing in a deeply polarized government. His narrowing political prospects exemplify the difficulty of staying relevant back home after taking on a policy job in a gridlocked capital — and his decision to stake his future in Washington rather than Ohio has already created political ripples in both places.

In Cordray’s absence, a 2014 gubernatorial race is in full swing with Democrat Ed FitzGerald challenging Republican Gov. John Kasich, while Democrats are already beginning to eye a 2016 fight for GOP Sen. Rob Portman’s seat.

Political operators in the Buckeye State say Cordray’s name no longer tops the lists of potential candidates for upcoming statewide races, while his would-be political advisers say they haven’t spoken to Cordray recently to discuss his political future. Instead, the former Ohio attorney general is deeply entrenched in his job as director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and has more than a few reasons to put whatever political aspirations he may have on hold.

A clean-cut attorney with a tough-on-Wall Street profile, Cordray has been envisioned by some Democrats as Ohio’s answer to Elizabeth Warren, the CFPB architect who won a Senate seat in Massachusetts. His allies at home say that’s not likely anytime soon.

“I do believe he’s put everything completely on the back burner,” said Greg Haas, chairman of the Franklin County Democratic Party and one of Cordray’s closest political advisers. “I haven’t had that kind of conversation with him and haven’t spoken to him in quite a while.”

Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) heaped praise on the CFPB director in a recent interview, as he wrote off speculation about Cordray’s political aspirations as GOP-driven attempts to undermine his dedication to his job.

“I don’t hear that much talk about Rich in Ohio, period. He’s got this national job. He’s doing a really good job,” Brown said. “Wall Street hates the consumer bureau, therefore Republicans hate the consumer bureau. … Republicans want to create as much noise as they can around him because at Wall Street’s behest, they’re always looking for ways to undercut the bureau.”

Confirmed as head of the consumer bureau last year after a two-year partisan stalemate in the Senate, Cordray, 55, is now just a year into a five-year term that will extend beyond President Barack Obama’s time in office.

Cordray declined to be interviewed for this story, and CFPB spokeswoman Jennifer Howard wrote in an email: “Director Cordray is 100 percent focused on his work at the CFPB.”

Though his day job is in Washington, Cordray still commutes home to Ohio on the weekends. In an interview last year, he said the decision had more to do with escaping the Beltway bubble than maintaining any kind of shadow political campaign back home. He also noted that because the D.C. metro area is one of the wealthiest in the country, trekking home is an important way of staying in touch with issues that are at the core of the CFPB’s mission.

“This is a place that has not necessarily seen or suffered the Great Recession in the same manner that I’ve seen in Ohio in or around my hometown,” he said in reference to the nation’s capital. “I think it’s very healthy for me to go to the grocery store or the barber or wherever. … They tell me pretty straight.”